Warren Wilson College Early Support Network
The goal of the early support network is to facilitate a culture of sharing information regarding student concerns in a way that is respectful and positive. The purpose is to allow for timely intervention with students who are experiencing difficulties or may be presenting a risk to themselves or others. Any time you as a faculty member, staff member or student have a concern about a student you should contact the early support team at earlysupport@warren-wilson.edu. Concerns you may want to report include lack of attendance at class or work, a substantial change in behavior or emotions, actions or expression of feelings that might be consistent with anxiety, extreme stress, chronic substance abuse or depression, and behavior that is disruptive to the residence hall, class or work environment. You may also want to alert us if a student is dealing with a family, relationship or peer situation where the student may benefit from additional support and/or assistance.
When you send an email it will be opened by Marilyn in the Student Life Office and she will let you know that your concern has been received. Having the email go to the earlysupport address first allows us to track communication most effectively. Marilyn will then send your email on to Paula Garrett to follow up on academic concerns, Karen Huntley for work issues and Cathy Kramer for general student behavior issues. That person may suggest or initiate an immediate intervention or she may bring the concern to the early support team, a group meeting every Wednesday morning and including members from academics, work and student life. That group will then decide on an intervention strategy when appropriate. Interventions often take the form of a staff member reaching out to students to let them know of the concerns and offer resources. A member of the group will then get back to the person sending the concern when it is appropriate to share information. A record of the emails we have received will be stored in a data base available only to the support team.
In addition to reporting the concern, we suggest that you talk with the student about your concern and make sure the student is aware of campus resources available. In cases where the student is in extreme distress or is expressing an intent to harm self or others, immediate intervention is appropriate and you should contact a counselor and/or the Student Life Office (ext. 3800) by phone. After hours you should contact public safety on the emergency cell phone at 230-4592 and they will contact the appropriate staff member to assist you. It can also be very stressful to be in a supportive role with a student who is experiencing distress and counselors are also available to provide support and consultation on giving care and setting boundaries.
Confidentiality:
The guiding principle behind sharing information about a student is to provide support to that individual student and any others in the community who may have been affected by the student’s behavior. Information will be shared only with members of the team and those other individuals who have a specific reason to be informed. While others within the community can decide about sharing information based on what is in the best interest of the student and/or the community, counselors are able to share information only when there is an immediate threat to the student or others.